Platform for appliance based resource catalog

ABSTRACT

Described herein is a platform for providing a resource catalog local to an appliance device, such that the appliance device is able to generate a transaction related to one or more resources within the resource catalog. In some embodiments, the appliance device may receive resource information within streaming data. For example, the appliance device may receive an indication that a portion of streaming media data is related to a resource. Upon determining that a portion of streaming data is related to a resource, the appliance device may be configured to store the portion of data in relation to the identified resource. A user may retrieve and/or execute the portion of streaming data at a later date. In some embodiments, the user may request that a transaction be conducted with respect to the resource and a corresponding transaction request may be generated by the appliance device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser.No. 17/895,957, filed Aug. 25, 2022, which is a continuation applicationof U.S. application Ser. No. 16/082,679, filed Sep. 6, 2018, now U.S.Pat. No. 11,463,754, issued on Oct. 4, 2022, which is a 371 ofPCT/US2016/030554, filed May 3, 2016, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

Households typically include a number of appliances which provide userswith access to a variety of information on various resources. In somecases, users are even able to make purchases (or complete othertransactions) related to the resources using these appliances. However,even in these cases, information related to the resource must beretrieved from a computing entity (often via a network connection)before a transaction may be completed. This often results in severalcommunications back and forth between a server and an appliance before atransaction can be initiated, resulting in a reduction of useablebandwidth for the appliance. This can be especially frustrating for auser attempting to use the appliance for its primary function at thesame time that the appliance is attempting to conduct a transaction.

Embodiments of the invention address these and other problems,individually and collectively.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Embodiments of the invention are directed to a platform in which anappliance device locally stored resource information as it is received.In some embodiments, the resource information may be received asstreaming data (e.g., streaming media files). The appliance device mayidentify a resource to which the resource information is related and/ordetermine that the resource information is to be stored based on anindicator associated with the resource information (e.g., metadataassociated with the resource information that includes a resourceidentifier). Upon receiving input from a user, the appliance device maygenerate a transaction request related to the resource from the resourceinformation received by the appliance device.

One embodiment of the invention is directed to a method performed by anappliance device comprising identifying information related to aresource within streaming data, determining, based on an indicatorassociated with the information related to the resource, that theinformation related to the resource is to be stored, and storing theinformation related to the resource in a resource catalog. The methodfurther comprises receiving a request to conduct a transaction relatedto the resource, and generating, using the information related to theresource and an access token, a transaction request message. The methodfurther comprises providing the generated transaction request message toa provider of the resource to initiate the transaction.

Another embodiment of the invention is directed to an appliancecomprising a processor and a computer readable medium comprising a tokenmodule, a resource catalog, and a transaction module. The token moduleis configured to maintain at least one access credential. The resourcecatalog is configured to, as streaming data is received by theappliance, identify a portion of the streaming data related to aresource, compile a set of information for the resource from theidentified portion of the streaming data, and store the compiled set ofinformation. The transaction module is configured to receive a requestrelated to the resource, generate, using the compiled set of informationand the at least one access credential, a transaction request for theresource, and transmit the generated transaction request to a providerof the resource.

Another embodiment of the invention is directed to a server computercomprising one or more processors, and a memory including instructionsthat, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to receive, from a resource provider, a request to provideresource information to one or more appliances. The instructions furthercausing the one or more processors to provide the resource informationto the one or more appliances within a streaming data, the resourceinformation including an indication that the resource information is tobe stored by the one or more appliances. The instructions furthercausing the one or more processors to receive a transaction request froman appliance of the one or more appliances, the transaction requestrelated to a resource associated with the resource information, andinitiate a transaction with the resource provider on behalf of a user ofthe appliance.

These and other embodiments of the invention are described in furtherdetail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an example system architecture capable of implementing atleast some embodiments of the current disclosure;

FIG. 2 depicts an example appliance device configured to store resourceinformation in a resource catalog and generate transaction requestmessages related to a resource in accordance with at least someembodiments;

FIG. 3 depicts an example data flow that may be implemented inaccordance with at least some embodiments;

FIG. 4 depicts a flow diagram illustrating a process for receivingresource information and subsequently conducting transactions inaccordance with at least some embodiments; and

FIG. 5 depicts a flow diagram illustrating a process for enrollingresource providers and subsequently conducting transactions inaccordance with at least some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, various embodiments will be described. Forpurposes of explanation, specific configurations and details are setforth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments.However, it will also be apparent to one skilled in the art that theembodiments may be practiced without the specific details. Furthermore,well-known features may be omitted or simplified in order not to obscurethe embodiment being described.

Prior to discussing the details of some embodiments of the presentinvention, description of some terms may be helpful in understanding thevarious embodiments.

An “access credential” may be any data or portion of data used to gainaccess to a particular resource. In some embodiments, an accesscredential may be a login and/or password for a user account. In someembodiments, an access credential may be include account information ora token associated with the account information, a cryptogram, a digitalcertificate, etc.

An “appliance device” may be any suitable electronic device capable ofcommunicating with, and/or interacting with other devices. An appliancedevice may have a primary function that is unrelated to communicatingwith other electronic devices. For example, an appliance device may be arefrigerator that, in addition to preserving food, is capable ofinteracting with one or more other electronic devices. In someembodiments, an appliance device may be associated with a deviceidentifier. The device identifier may be used to determine the type ofdevice for a particular appliance device. Examples of appliance devicesmay include gas and electric meters, refrigerators, lamps, thermostats,printers, automobiles, fire alarms, home medical devices, home alarms,motorcycles, boats, televisions, etc.

An “authorization request message” may be an electronic message thatrequests authorization for a transaction. In some embodiments, it issent to a transaction processing computer and/or an issuer of a paymentcard to request authorization for a transaction. An authorizationrequest message according to some embodiments may comply with ISO 8583,which is a standard for systems that exchange electronic transactioninformation associated with a payment made by a user using a paymentdevice or payment account. The authorization request message may includean issuer account identifier that may be associated with a paymentdevice or payment account. An authorization request message may alsocomprise additional data elements corresponding to “identificationinformation” including, by way of example only: a service code, a CVV(card verification value), a dCVV (dynamic card verification value), aPAN (primary account number or “account number”), a payment token, auser name, an expiration date, etc. An authorization request message mayalso comprise “transaction information,” such as any informationassociated with a current transaction, such as the transaction amount,merchant identifier, merchant location, acquirer bank identificationnumber (BIN), card acceptor ID, information identifying items beingpurchased, etc., as well as any other information that may be utilizedin determining whether to identify and/or authorize a transaction.

An “authorization response message” may be a message that responds to anauthorization request. In some cases, it may be an electronic messagereply to an authorization request message generated by an issuingfinancial institution or a transaction processing computer. Theauthorization response message may include, by way of example only, oneor more of the following status indicators: Approval—transaction wasapproved; Decline—transaction was not approved; or Call Center—responsepending more information, merchant must call the toll-free authorizationphone number. The authorization response message may also include anauthorization code, which may be a code that a credit card issuing bankreturns in response to an authorization request message in an electronicmessage (either directly or through the transaction processing computer)to the merchant's access device (e.g. POS equipment) that indicatesapproval of the transaction. The code may serve as proof ofauthorization.

A “media provider computer” may include a computing device capable ofproviding media content. In some embodiments, a media provider computermay provide content to one or more appliance devices. In someembodiments, the media provider computer may be a provider of streamingmedia content. For example, the media provider computer may be aprovider of a streaming media service, such as a video streaming orwebcam streaming service.

A “resource provider computer” may include a computing device capable ofproviding access to one or more resources. A resource provider computermay typically be an entity that engages in transactions and can sellgoods or services, or provide access to goods or services. In someembodiments, the resource provider computer may be affiliated with anelectronic marketplace or a retail entity that maintains an internetpresence. A resource provider computer may support transactions toacquire resources (e.g., goods and/or services). The resource providercomputer may be in communication with other devices via a networkconnection. Examples of resource provider computers may includecomputers maintained by merchants, data providers, etc.

A “server computer” may include a powerful computer or cluster ofcomputers. For example, the server computer can be a large mainframe, aminicomputer cluster, or a group of servers functioning as a unit. Inone example, the server computer may be a database server coupled to aWeb server. The server computer may be coupled to a database and mayinclude any hardware, software, other logic, or combination of thepreceding for servicing the requests from one or more client computers.The server computer may comprise one or more computational apparatusesand may use any of a variety of computing structures, arrangements, andcompilations for servicing the requests from one or more clientcomputers.

“Streaming media” may refer to any files provided to a computing entityin a continuous or semi-continuous stream of data. Streaming media maybe used to refer to media files that are buffered and/or executed by theappliance device upon being accessed. In some embodiments, streamingmedia content may refer to a series of media files that are downloadedby an appliance device in a sequence. For example, a media provider maymake a series of data files available and may provide an appliancedevice with the location (e.g., via a uniform resource locator (URL)) ofeach of the data files. In this example, the appliance device may accesseach of the data files at the indicated location in a specified order.

A “token” may include an identifier for a payment account that is asubstitute for an account identifier, such as a primary account number(PAN). For example, a token may include a series of numeric and/oralphanumeric characters that may be used as a substitute for an originalaccount identifier. For example, a token “4900 0000 0000 0001” may beused in place of a PAN “4147 0900 0000 1234.” In some embodiments, atoken may be “format preserving” and may have a numeric format thatconforms to the account identifiers used in existing payment processingnetworks (e.g., ISO 8583 financial transaction message format). In someembodiments, a token may be used in place of a PAN to initiate,authorize, settle or resolve a payment transaction or represent theoriginal credential in other systems where the original credential wouldtypically be provided. In some embodiments, a token value may begenerated such that the recovery of the original PAN or other accountidentifier from the token value may not be computationally derived.Further, in some embodiments, the token format may be configured toallow the entity receiving the token to identify it as a token andrecognize the entity that issued the token.

Details of some embodiments of the present invention will now bedescribed.

FIG. 1 depicts an example system architecture capable of implementing atleast some embodiments of the current disclosure. In FIG. 1 , anappliance device 102 is depicted as being in communication with aprocessing computer 104. Additionally, the appliance device 102 may bein communication with one or more of a resource provider computer 106,an access server 108, and/or an authorization computer 110 via acommunication network 112 and/or a transaction processing network 114.In some embodiments, the appliance device 102 may receive streamingmedia content provided by a media provider computer 116.

An appliance device 102 may be may be any electronic device configuredto perform at least one primary function. The appliance device 102 mayinclude one or more processors and a memory that includes computerexecutable instructions to be executed by the one or more processors. Insome embodiments, the memory may include a secure execution environment118. The computer executable instructions may include one or moremodules, such as a token module 120, a transaction module 122, and/or aninterface module 124. In addition, the memory may include one or moredata stores that store information to be processed by the modules, suchas a resource catalog 126 that includes information related to one ormore resources. This will be described in greater detail with respect toFIG. 2 below.

In accordance with at least some embodiments, the processing computer104 may be any computing device, including a remotely located servercomputer, configured to perform one or more actions on behalf of theappliance device 102. Additionally, it should be noted that in someembodiments, the processing computer 104 may be embodied by one morevirtual machines implemented in a hosted computing environment. Thehosted computing environment may include one or more rapidly provisionedand released computing resources, which computing resources may includecomputing, networking, and/or storage devices. A hosted computingenvironment may also be referred to as a cloud-computing environment. Insome embodiments, the processing computer 104 may be configured toprovision information onto the appliance device 102. The processingcomputer 104 may provide any suitable service and/or processing for theappliance device 102. In some embodiments, the processing computer maymaintain an account for one or more users and/or appliance device(s)102. The processing computer may also store one or more policies and/oruser preferences related to the operation of the appliance device 102 orservice. In some embodiments, the processing computer may be configuredto provide an indication of which media content is to be stored by theappliance device 102.

A resource provider computer 106 may be any computing device orplurality of computing devices configured to provide access to aresource. In some embodiments, the resource provider computer 106 may beassociated with an electronic commerce site. For example, the resourceprovider computer 106 may maintain a catalog of items and/or servicesavailable for purchase by a user. The resource provider computer 106 mayalso be associated with a merchant website or an acquirer. In someembodiments, the resource provider computer 106 may enable a user togain entry to a secure area or storage unit.

In accordance with at least some embodiments, the access server 108 maybe any computing device or plurality of computing devices configured toinitiate a transaction on behalf of a resource provider, such as amerchant. In some embodiments, the access server 108 may be configuredto complete a transaction upon receiving an authorization responsemessage indicating that a transaction has been approved. In someembodiments, the access server 108 may be operated by an acquirer or afinancial institution associated with a resource provider computer 106.

In accordance with at least some embodiments, the authorization computer110 may be any computing device or plurality of computing devicesconfigured to receive an authorization request message for atransaction, authorize or decline the transaction, and provide anauthorization response message based on whether the transaction has beenauthorized or declined. The authorization computer 110 may determinewhether to authorize or decline the transaction based on informationassociated with the transaction. In some embodiments, the authorizationcomputer 110 may be operated by an issuer of a payment account (e.g., acredit card).

In some examples, the communication network 112 and/or the transactionprocessing network 114 may include any one or a combination of manydifferent types of networks, such as cable networks, the Internet,wireless networks, cellular networks, and other private and/or publicnetworks. In addition, the communication network 112 and/or transactionprocessing network 114 may comprise multiple different networks. Forexample, the appliance device 102 may utilize a 3G network tocommunicate with a wireless router, which may then route thecommunication over a public network (e.g., the Internet) to the resourceprovider computer 106. In some embodiments, the transaction processingnetwork 114 may be a payment processing network (e.g., VisaNet).

In accordance with at least some embodiments, the media providercomputer 116 may be any computing device or plurality of computingdevices configured to provide media content to the appliance device 102.In some embodiments, the media provider computer 116 may be operated bya provider of streaming media content. In the context of thisdisclosure, streaming media content may refer to media files that areprovided in a continuous or semi-continuous stream of data. In someembodiments, streaming media content may refer to a series of mediafiles that are downloaded by the appliance device 102 is a sequence. Forexample, the media provider computer 116 may make a series of data filesavailable and may provide the appliance device 102 with the location(e.g., via a uniform resource locator (URL)) of each of the data files.In this example, the appliance device 102 may access each of the datafiles at the indicated location in a specified order. In someembodiments, the media files may be buffered and/or executed by theappliance device 102 upon being accessed.

A remote device 128 may be any electronic device configured to enableremote user interaction with an appliance device 102. In someembodiments, the remote device 128 may be a remote control associatedwith the appliance device 102. In some embodiments, the remote device128 may be a cellular phone or other mobile device capable ofcommunicating user input to the appliance device. In some embodiments,the remote device 128 may be configured to interact with an interfacemodule 124 of the appliance device 102. In some embodiments, theinterface module 124 may comprise a graphical user interface (GUI) orother means of presenting data to the user, such that the appliancedevice 102 may be configured to present feedback to the user in responseto receiving user input via the remote device 128.

For simplicity of illustration, a certain number of components are shownin FIG. 1 . It is understood, however, that embodiments of the inventionmay include more than one of each component. In addition, someembodiments of the invention may include fewer than or greater than allof the components shown in FIG. 1 . In addition, the components in FIG.1 may communicate via any suitable communication medium (including theinternet), using any suitable communications policy.

FIG. 2 depicts an example appliance device configured to store resourceinformation in a resource catalog and generate transaction requestmessages related to a resource in accordance with at least someembodiments. The appliance device 102 may be an example appliance device102 of FIG. 1 .

The appliance device 102 may be any type of computing device capable ofreceiving media content, identifying resource information within themedia content, storing the identified resource information, andgenerating transaction request messages. In at least some embodiments,the appliance device 102 may include at least one memory 202 and one ormore processing units (or processor(s)) 204. The processor(s) 204 may beimplemented as appropriate in hardware, computer-executableinstructions, firmware or combinations thereof. Computer-executableinstruction or firmware embodiments of the processor(s) 204 may includecomputer-executable or machine executable instructions written in anysuitable programming language to perform the various functionsdescribed.

The memory 202 may store program instructions that are loadable andexecutable on the processor(s) 204, as well as data generated during theexecution of these programs. Depending on the configuration and type ofappliance device 102, the memory 202 may be volatile (such as randomaccess memory (RAM)) and/or non-volatile (such as read-only memory(ROM), flash memory, etc.). The appliance device 102 may also includeadditional storage 206, such as either removable storage ornon-removable storage including, but not limited to, magnetic storage,optical disks, and/or tape storage. The disk drives and their associatedcomputer-readable media may provide non-volatile storage ofcomputer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, andother data for the appliance device 102. In some embodiments, the memory202 may include multiple different types of memory, such as staticrandom access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or ROM.

The memory 202 of appliance device 102 may include a secure executionenvironment 208 such as a secure memory (e.g., Smartcard basedtechnology available in low-power devices). In some embodiments, thesecure execution environment 208 may include a secure element. A secureelement (SE) can be a tamper-resistant platform (typically a one chipsecure microcontroller) capable of securely hosting applications andtheir confidential and cryptographic data (e.g. key management) inaccordance with the rules and security requirements set forth by a setof well-identified trusted authorities.

Turning to the contents of the memory 202 in more detail, the memory 202may include an operating system 210 and one or more application programsor services for implementing the features disclosed herein including atleast a module for generating transaction requests related to anidentified resource to initiate a transaction (transaction module 212).The memory 202 may also include resource catalog data 214, whichprovides data associated with one or more resources and policy data 216,which provides information on policies to be applied to transactionsinitiated by the appliance device 102.

In some embodiments, the transaction module 212 may, in conjunction withthe processor 204, be configured to determine whether a requestedtransaction is in compliance with one or more policies related to thetransaction and/or the appliance device 102. For example, thetransaction module 212 may be programmed to cause the appliance device102 to identify one or more policies relevant to a resource and/or typeof resource associated with a requested transaction. In someembodiments, policies may be identified based on a transaction amount,the type of resource to which the transaction request is related, anamount of the transaction, or any other suitable factor.

The transaction module 212 may also be configured to cause the processor204 to identify a token or other access credential to be associated witha transaction and to generate a transaction request message inaccordance with at least some embodiments. For example, upon receivingan indication of a resource to be obtained, the appliance device 102 maydetermine a resource provider computer associated with the resource,identify a token to be used to obtain the resource, and may generate atransaction request to be provided to the resource provider computerand/or access server to initiate a transaction for the requestedresource. In this example, upon determining that the transaction is incompliance with each of the relevant policies, the appliance device maygenerate the transaction request to include an identifier and quantityof a resource and an access credential, which may then be provided tothe resource provider computer to initiate the transaction.

In some embodiments, at least some information provisioned by aprocessing computer onto the appliance device 102 may be stored in thesecure memory. The appliance device 102 may include secure key storageto protect data at rest and encryption keys (i.e. a shared secret). Theencryption keys could be unique-derived keys (UDKs), which can bederived from user account information and other unique information. Abenefit to using UDKs is that the UDKs do not need to be transported tothe devices that use them, but they can be generated by those devicesusing information known to those devices. The appliance device 102 mayalso store instructions for communicating with other devices and/orinstructions for initiating a payment transaction. In some embodiments,the secure execution environment 208 may include at least a module formanaging information related to access credentials (token module 218).The secure execution environment may also include one or more securedata stores for storing any sensitive information (e.g., accesscredential, encryption keys, etc.).

The appliance device 102 may also contain communications interface(s)218 that enable the appliance device 102 to communicate with a storeddatabase, another computing device or server, one or more remotedevices, other appliance devices, and/or any other suitable electronicdevices. In some embodiments, the communication interface 218 may enablethe appliance device 102 to communicate with other electronic devices ona network (e.g., on a private network). The appliance device 102 mayalso include input/output (I/O) device(s) and/or ports 220, such as forenabling connection with a keyboard, a mouse, a pen, a voice inputdevice, a touch input device, a display, speakers, a printer, etc.

FIG. 3 depicts an example data flow that may be implemented inaccordance with at least some embodiments. The data flow depicted inFIG. 3 , may be implemented at least by the example architecturedepicted in FIG. 1 .

In accordance with at least some embodiments, streaming data may beprovided by a media provider computer 302. In some embodiments, thestreaming data may be provided as a series of sequential files (filesprovided in an ordered sequence), or portions of a single media file. Insome embodiments, the streaming data may comprise files located on aserver which are “streamed” by providing a location of the files toanother computing entity that subsequently downloads the files from theserver.

During an enrollment phase, a resource provider computer 304 maycommunicate with the processing computer 306. During the enrollment, theresource provider computer 304 may provide the processing computer 306with information related to a resource that it provides. For example,the resource provider computer may provide information related to anavailability (e.g., a time period during which the resource isavailable), a price, a lifespan, or any other suitable resource-relatedinformation. The processing computer 306 may normalize the receivedinformation (place the information into a standard format) and store theinformation as a record in a resource index. The processing computer 306may provide a resource identifier to the resource provider computer 304that may be used to identify the record related to the resource in theresource index.

The streaming data may be accessed by the processing computer 306. Insome embodiments, at least a portion of the streaming data may beidentified as being associated with an indication of a resource (e.g.,one or more files from the series of files that comprise the streamingdata). The processing computer 304 may determine that one or moreprovided files is associated with a resource identifier. For example,the one or more files may be associated with metadata that includes theresource identifier. In some embodiments, upon determining that the oneor more files are associated with the resource identifier, theprocessing computer 306 may reference the resource index 308 to generatea resource file related to the resource identifier. The resource filemay be provided to a resource catalog 312 located on an appliance devicewith an indication that it is related to the one or more filesdetermined to be associated with the resource identifier when the one ormore files are received. In some embodiments, the resource file maycomprise information related to acquisition of the resource. Forexample, the resource file may include the price of the resource,contact information for the resource provider computer (e.g., a URL), orany other suitable information needed to complete a transaction with theresource provider for the resource. In some embodiments, the resourcefile may be associated with an expiration date and/or time. For example,a resource file may be set to expire upon reaching the end of a salerelated to the resource. In another example, the resource file may beset to expire upon reaching the end of a period of time for which theresource provider has paid to enroll its resource. The one or more filesassociated with the resource file may be stored in the resource catalogin relation to the resource file.

In accordance with at least some embodiments, the processing computer306 may also be configured to manage and provide access credentialinformation to an appliance device. In some embodiments, the processingcomputer 306 may identify one or more access credentials that may beused to gain access to the resource from the resource provider computer304. For example, the resource provider computer 304 may provide anindication of acceptable payment mechanisms from which the resourceprovider computer 304 is able to receive payment. In some embodiments,the processing computer 306 may generate a token or subtoken specific tothe resource, resource provider, and/or the appliance device. The tokenmay be stored by the processing computer 306 in token data 310. Thetoken may be included in the resource file provided to, and stored in,the resource catalog 312 of the appliance device.

In some embodiments, the one or more files may be executed by theappliance device at 314. For example, in addition to being stored in theresource catalog 312 along with a resource file, the portion ofstreaming data may be presented to a user of the appliance device at thetime that it is received.

In some embodiments, the appliance device may receive a user interaction316 related to the resource. A transaction module 318 of the appliancedevice may in conjunction with a processor in the application devicecause the appliance device to identify a resource file associated withthe resource based on the user interaction 316. In some embodiments, thetransaction module 318 may be an example transaction module 212 depictedin FIG. 2 . In response to receiving, via the user interaction 316, arequest to obtain the resource associated with the resource file, thetransaction module 318 may be configured to generate a transactionrequest message. The transaction request message may include anindication of the resource, a quantity, a shipping address, anauthorized transaction amount, or any other suitable informationnecessary to complete the transaction. In addition, the transactionmessage may include a token or other access credential that may be usedto complete the transaction.

The generated transaction message may be provided to a resource providercomputer 304 to initiate a transaction related to the resource. Theresource provider computer 304 may, upon receiving the transactionmessage, determine an availability for the resource. Upon determiningthat the resource is available, the resource provider computer 304 mayinitiate authorization 320 for the transaction by generating anauthorization request message to be provided to an authorizationcomputer associated with the token. In some embodiments, the resourceprovider computer 304 may provide a response to the transaction module318 to indicate whether the transaction has successfully been initiated.

More specifically, although the authorization 320 may occur in anysuitable manner, in some embodiments of the invention and referring toFIG. 1 , the resource provider computer 106 may generate theauthorization request message, which may be transmitted to theauthorization computer 110 via the communication network 112, the accessserver 108, and the transaction processing network 114. Theauthorization computer 110 may generate an authorization responsemessage which may be returned to the resource provider computer 106through the transaction processing network 114, the access server 108,and the communication network 112. At the end of the day or at someother suitable period of time, a settlement process may occur betweenthe access computer 108 and the authorization computer 110.

If a token was present in the authorization request message instead of areal payment credential, then the real credential (e.g., a real PAN) maybe determined from the token by a token vault (not shown in FIG. 1 ),which may be in operative communication with any of the access server108, the transaction processing network 114, and/or the authorizationcomputer 110.

By way of illustrative example, consider the following exemplaryscenario. An advertiser (an example of a resource provider that operatesthe resource provider computer 304) may enroll an advertised productwith a provider of the disclosed service (the provider may operate theprocessing computer 306). In some embodiments, the processing computer306 may be operated by the media provider. In some embodiments, theprocessing computer 306 may be operated by a server that providesbackend support for a resource catalog implemented on the appliancedevice. In this scenario, the advertiser may provide product informationfor the advertised product (e.g., availability, price, shipping costs,etc.) and may be provided with a resource identifier in return. Theadvertiser may then provide a video advertisement for the product to astreaming video provider computer (an example media provider computer302) to be embedded in streaming video content. In this scenario, thevideo advertisement may include an indication of the resourceidentifier. The streaming video provider may stream video to one or moresmart televisions (an example appliance device) that includes the videoadvertisement. Upon detecting that the video advertisement is related tothe resource identifier (e.g., a metadata associated with the videoadvertisement includes the resource identifier), a smart television thatreceives the video advertisement may be provided with a resource filerelated to the video advertisement. In addition to playing the videoadvertisement, the smart television may store both the resource file andthe video advertisement in a resource catalog 312.

In this illustrative scenario, a user may be provided with the abilityto view or otherwise select the video advertisements stored in theresource catalog 312. If the user selects an option to purchase theadvertised product, the smart television is able to generate a purchaseorder (an example transaction message) for the advertised product. Insome cases, the purchase order may include all of the informationnecessary to complete the purchase of the advertised product. Thepurchase order may then be provided to the provider of the disclosedservice or directly to the advertiser (e.g., at a URL indicated in theresource file via a network connection). The purchase may then beinitiated by the advertiser by submitting an authorization requestmessage to an issuer of a payment instrument provided in the purchaseorder. Upon receiving an approved authorization response, the advertisermay initiate a fulfillment process to provider the product to a user ofthe smart television.

FIG. 4 depicts a flow diagram illustrating a process for receivingresource information and subsequently conducting transactions inaccordance with at least some embodiments.

Some or all of any of the processes described herein (or variationsand/or combinations thereof) may be performed under the control of oneor more computer systems configured with executable instructions and maybe implemented as code (e.g., executable instructions, one or morecomputer programs or one or more applications). In accordance with atleast one embodiment, the process 400 of FIG. 4 may be performed by atleast the appliance device 102 depicted in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 . The codemay be stored on a computer-readable storage medium, for example, in theform of a computer program including a plurality of instructionsexecutable by one or more processors. The computer-readable storagemedium may be non-transitory.

Process 400 may begin at 402, when streaming data (or a portion thereof)is identified as being related to a resource. In some embodiments, theportion of data may be identified as being related to a resource by aresource identifier located within metadata associated with the portionof streaming data. In some embodiments, the portion of streaming datamay comprise a series of data files. For example, a thirty-second videorelated to a resource may be inserted into a longer video that isunrelated to the resource. The thirty-second video may be stored on aserver as 15 consecutive data files, each containing two seconds ofvideo. In this example, all 15 of the data files may include metadatawith the resource identifier, indicating that they are each related tothe resource. As the appliance receives the streaming data, it may play,or otherwise execute, each file received in the streaming data. As the15 consecutive files are received and executed by the appliance, theymay be identified as being related to the resource.

At 404, an appliance device may determine whether to store theidentified portion of data. In some embodiments, an identified portionof data may be stored upon determining that the portion of data isrelated to an active (e.g., non-expired) resource identifier. In someembodiments, a user may indicate one or more interests. For example, theuser may provide an indication of a type of resource for which a relatedportion of data should be stored. In this example, a resource identifiermay include an indication of a category or type associated with theresource and the resource information may be stored if it is related toa category or type that the user has indicated. In some embodiments, auser may actively indicate an interest. For example, the user may selectone or more user preference settings. In some embodiments, the user mayinactively indicate an interest. For example, the user may perform asearch for a particular resource or view a television show related to aresource.

At 406, upon determining that the resource information is to be stored,the appliance device may store the resource information in a resourcecatalog database. Information related to one or more resource maysubsequently be accessed in the resource catalog by the appliancedevice. For example, in some embodiments, a user may request informationrelated to a resource, and the appliance device may query the resourcecatalog for one or more records related to the indicated resource. Insome embodiments, the user may specify a type of resource andinformation may be accessed in the resource catalog for multipleresources of the specified resource type.

By way of illustration, consider the scenario in which an advertiser(i.e., the resource provider) provides a video advertisement (i.e., theresource information) to a content distributor (i.e., the processingcomputer) to be distributed to one or more appliance devices. For thepurposes of this scenario, assume that the streaming content is videocontent and the advertisement is a video advertisement for a productoffered by the advertiser. The distributor may attach metadata to theadvertisement that indicates the resource identifier, a product beingadvertised, a price, the advertiser, or any other suitable information.The advertisement may then be embedded into a television programdistributed to a smart television.

The smart television, upon receiving the advertisement, may determinethat the advertisement is related to the product based on the attachedmetadata, and may subsequently store the advertisement (and metadata) ina resource catalog upon determining that the resource identifier in themetadata is valid. In this scenario, the smart television may storeadvertisements related to particular products. For example, the user ofthe smart television may indicate (e.g., via a webpage or userpreferences) that he or she is interested in seeing advertisementsrelated to golf clubs. In this example, advertisements related to golfclubs may be stored by the smart television. In some cases, the user maynot explicitly state a product preference. For example, the user maywatch a lot of golf on the smart television and the smart television maydeduce from the user's behavior that the user is interested in golfclubs. The advertisements stored by the smart television, in addition tobeing played at the time they are received, may be played at a latertime upon request by the user.

In some embodiments, the received resource information may be executedupon detecting that one or more conditions have been met. For example,in some embodiments, the appliance device may determine that a type ofthe resource indicated in the resource information is related to one ormore files currently being executed upon the appliance device. In thisexample, one or more processors of the appliance device may select amedia file stored in relation to the resource information and mayexecute the selected media file. For example, the appliance device mayhave stored an advertisement for golf clubs (resource information). Inthis example, the appliance device may determine that it is currentlystreaming content related to golf (e.g., video of a golf tournament).Upon making this determination, the appliance device may select and playthe advertisement for golf clubs based on the determination that golfclubs are related to golf.

At 408, the appliance device may receive a request to conduct atransaction related to the resource. For example, a user of theappliance may provide user input that indicates a desire to purchase theresource. Upon receiving the request, the appliance may queryinformation relevant to the resource from the resource catalog. Forexample, the appliance may retrieve and execute the portion of streamingdata stored in relation to the resource. Upon receiving a purchasecommand from the user, the appliance may identify the resource providerassociated with the resource from the resource catalog in order toinitiate a transaction.

At 410, the appliance device may ensure that the transaction is incompliance with one or more policies. For example, the appliance mayconfirm that the transaction is within a range of indicated acceptabletransaction amounts. In some embodiments, the appliance device mayrequire that a user enter a pin code, password, or other suitableauthentication before initiating the transaction. One or more policiesmay be provisioned onto the appliance device by a processing computer.In some embodiments, a user may select one or more policies to beassociated with his or her account and those policies may be provisionedonto the appliance device via a network connection.

At 412, upon determining that the requested transaction is in compliancewith each relevant policy, the appliance may generate a transactionrequest. In some embodiments, a transaction request may include anindication of an amount of the resource requested, a shipping address,and an access credential (e.g., a token) to be used to complete thetransaction. In some embodiments, the appliance device may receive anencryption key from the resource provider computer (e.g., the encryptionkey may be stored in a resource file). The transaction request may beencrypted using the encryption key, such that it may be accessed only bythe resource provider computer or another computing entity in possessionof the corresponding decryption key.

At 414, the appliance may provide the generated transaction request to aresource provider computer to initiate the transaction. In someembodiments, the appliance device may transmit the generated transactionrequest to the resource provider computer via the network connection. Insome embodiments, the appliance device may transmit the transactionrequest to a processing computer, which may subsequently initiate atransaction with the resource provider computer on behalf of theappliance device.

Continuing with the example scenario described above, in which anadvertiser provides a video advertisement to a content distributor, auser may request to view a particular advertisement or type ofadvertisement stored in the resource catalog. A smart television mayplay the requested advertisements upon identifying them. The user may begiven the ability to indicate that he or she would like to purchase aproduct advertised in one of the advertisements. The smart televisionmay ensure that the user is authorized to initiate a transaction for therequested product. Upon determining that the user is authorized topurchase the requested product, the smart television may generate atransaction request for the advertised product. The generatedtransaction request may be provided to the advertiser or it may beprovided to the content distributor, which may forward the request (or aportion thereof) to the advertiser.

FIG. 5 depicts a flow diagram illustrating a process for enrollingresource providers and subsequently conducting transactions inaccordance with at least some embodiments.

In accordance with at least one embodiment, the process 500 of FIG. 5may be performed by at least the processing computer 104 depicted inFIG. 1 . The code may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium,for example, in the form of a computer program including a plurality ofinstructions executable by one or more processors. The computer-readablestorage medium may be non-transitory.

Process 500 may begin at 502, when a request is received from a resourceprovider computer to provide information related to a resource (e.g., aproduct) to one or more appliance devices. The request may includevarious details related to the resource. For example, the request mayinclude an availability, a type of the resource, a price for theresource, information related to a special offer for the resource, orany other suitable resource-related information. In some embodiments,the request may include an indication of an expiration date for an offerassociated with the resource. In some embodiments, the request mayinclude an indication of the types of users and/or appliance devicesthat should be provided with the resource information. For example, therequest may include demographic information that includes an indicationof a range of ages and/or income levels for users that should beprovided with the resource information. In response to receiving therequest, the processing computer may generate a record for the resourcein a resource index. In some embodiments, the processing computer maygenerate a resource file to be provided to one or more appliancedevices.

At 504, the resource information may be embedded into streaming data.For example, the resource information may comprise an advertisement orother offer related to the resource. In this example, the streaming datamay be a video file, and the offer related to the resource may beembedded into the video file.

At 506, the streaming data may be provided to one or more appliancedevices. In the example above, the video file with the embedded resourceinformation may be provided to a number of televisions or otherappliance devices suitable for viewing of video files.

At 508, the processing computer may receive a transaction requestrelated to the resource. The transaction request may include anindication of the appliance device to which the transaction request isrelated. In some embodiments, the received request may include aresource identifier that can be used to identify the resource within aresource index.

At 510, the processing computer may identify account information to beused to complete the transaction based on an access credential providedin the transaction request. In some embodiments, the processing computermay be a token server and the access credential may be a token used toidentify a payment account.

At 512, the processing computer may ensure that the transaction is incompliance with one or more policies. For example, the processingcomputer may confirm that the transaction is within a range of indicatedacceptable transaction amounts. In some embodiments, the processingcomputer may provide a challenge/response related to the transaction.

At 514, upon determining that the requested transaction is in compliancewith the policies, the processing computer may initiate the requestedtransaction. In some embodiments, the processing computer may generate asecond transaction request that includes the identified accountinformation. The second transaction request may be provided to at leastone of the resource provider computer and/or an authorization computer.For example, in some embodiments, the second transaction request may bean authorization request message to be provided to an authorizationcomputer.

By way of illustrative example, consider the scenario in which anadvertiser (i.e., the resource provider) provides an advertisement to acontent distributor (i.e., the processing computer) to be distributed toone or more appliance devices. For the purposes of this scenario, assumethat the streaming content is video content and the advertisement is avideo advertisement for a product offered by the advertiser. Thedistributor may attach metadata to the advertisement that indicates theresource identifier, a product being advertised, a price, theadvertiser, or any other suitable information. The advertisement maythen be embedded into a television program distributed to multiple smarttelevisions.

Continuing with this illustrative example, the content distributor mayreceive a transaction request related to the advertised product at alater point in time. For example, a user may have elected to purchasethe advertised product from a smart television and a transaction requestmay have subsequently been generated by the smart television for theadvertised product. The transaction request may be received at thecontent distributor and checked to make sure that it is in compliancewith various transaction policies. The content distributor may thenquery a database for the resource identifier included in the transactionrequest to identify the advertiser and/or a network address at which theadvertiser can be contacted. The transaction request may then beforwarded to the advertiser to initiate a transaction for the advertisedproduct. It should be noted that although the illustrative scenariodescribes the content distributor receiving the transaction request, thetransaction request may instead be provided to the advertiser directly.

A computer system can include a plurality of the same components orsubsystems, e.g., connected together by external interface or by aninternal interface. In some embodiments, computer systems, subsystem, orapparatuses can communicate over a network. In such instances, onecomputer can be considered a client and another computer a server, whereeach can be part of a same computer system. A client and a server caneach include multiple systems, subsystems, or components.

Embodiments of the invention provide for a number of technicaladvantages. For example, embodiments of the invention enable a user toquickly and securely initiate a transaction for a resource. The user isable to view information related to resources that has been provided toan appliance (such as a smart television) and generate a purchase orderusing information stored on the appliance. In some embodiments, theinvention includes the use of a subtoken generated for a specificappliance device and resource, such that the subtoken can only be usedby the specified appliance to conduct a transaction for the specifiedresource. This prevents potentially fraudulent use of access credentialsthat may be intercepted by an unauthorized third party. Additionally, bygenerating a transaction request on an appliance device, all of thepayment processing and marketplace/rewards calculations can be performedwithout resorting to a remote computer. This reduces back and forthcommunications between the remote computer and the appliance device, andsubsequently reduced bandwidth used. Additionally, this disclosureallows each appliance to process any payments/marketplace transactionsin a manner that is specific to that appliance device. This isparticularly useful in an Internet of Things (IOT) environment, wheremachines are conducting transactions with different machines in avariety of different situations.

It should be understood that any of the embodiments of the presentinvention can be implemented in the form of control logic using hardware(e.g. an application specific integrated circuit or field programmablegate array) and/or using computer software with a generally programmableprocessor in a modular or integrated manner. As used herein, a processorincludes a single-core processor, multi-core processor on a sameintegrated chip, or multiple processing units on a single circuit boardor networked. Based on the disclosure and teachings provided herein, aperson of ordinary skill in the art will know and appreciate other waysand/or methods to implement embodiments of the present invention usinghardware and a combination of hardware and software.

Any of the software components or functions described in thisapplication may be implemented as software code to be executed by aprocessor using any suitable computer language such as, for example,Java, C, C++, C#, Objective-C, Swift, or scripting language such as Perlor Python using, for example, conventional or object-orientedtechniques. The software code may be stored as a series of instructionsor commands on a computer readable medium for storage and/ortransmission, suitable media include random access memory (RAM), a readonly memory (ROM), a magnetic medium such as a hard-drive or a floppydisk, or an optical medium such as a compact disk (CD) or DVD (digitalversatile disk), flash memory, and the like. The computer readablemedium may be any combination of such storage or transmission devices.

Such programs may also be encoded and transmitted using carrier signalsadapted for transmission via wired, optical, and/or wireless networksconforming to a variety of policies, including the Internet. As such, acomputer readable medium according to an embodiment of the presentinvention may be created using a data signal encoded with such programs.Computer readable media encoded with the program code may be packagedwith a compatible device or provided separately from other devices(e.g., via Internet download). Any such computer readable medium mayreside on or within a single computer product (e.g. a hard drive, a CD,or an entire computer system), and may be present on or within differentcomputer products within a system or network. A computer system mayinclude a monitor, printer, or other suitable display for providing anyof the results mentioned herein to a user.

The above description is illustrative and is not restrictive. Manyvariations of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in theart upon review of the disclosure. The scope of the invention should,therefore, be determined not with reference to the above description,but instead should be determined with reference to the pending claimsalong with their full scope or equivalents.

One or more features from any embodiment may be combined with one ormore features of any other embodiment without departing from the scopeof the invention.

A recitation of “a”, “an” or “the” is intended to mean “one or more”unless specifically indicated to the contrary.

All patents, patent applications, publications, and descriptionsmentioned above are herein incorporated by reference in their entiretyfor all purposes. None is admitted to be prior art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A processing server computer comprising: one ormore processors; and a computer readable medium storing instructionsthat, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform steps comprising: provisioning, on a token moduleof an appliance having a primary function that is unrelated tocommunicating with other electronic devices, a payment token that is asubstitute for an original payment account identifier; receiving, from atransaction module of the appliance, a transaction request messageassociated with a transaction for a resource provided by a resourceprovider, the transaction request message including the payment token,an indication of the appliance transmitting the transaction requestmessage, and a resource identifier identifying the resource; andprocessing the transaction using the payment token.
 2. The processingserver computer of claim 1, wherein the instructions for processing thetransaction further comprise instructions that, when executed by the oneor more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform:initiating the transaction with the resource provider on behalf of theappliance.
 3. The processing server computer of claim 1, wherein theinstructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the oneor more processors to perform steps comprising: receiving, from aresource provider computer associated with the resource provider,information related to the resource provided by the resource provider;normalizing the received information; storing the normalized informationas a record in a resource index; and providing, to the resource providercomputer, the resource identifier to identify the record related to theresource in the resource index.
 4. The processing server computer ofclaim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to perform stepscomprising: accessing a streaming data provided to the appliance,wherein a portion of the streaming data is related to the resource,wherein the streaming data is a series of media files; identifying oneor more files among the streaming data as being associated with metadatathat includes the resource identifier assigned to the resource by theprocessing server computer; generating a resource file related to theresource identifier; transmitting the resource file to a resourcecatalog located on the appliance, wherein the resource file isassociated with the one or more files.
 5. The processing server computerof claim 4, wherein the resource file includes at least a price of theresource and a network address for the resource provider associated withthe resource.
 6. The processing server computer of claim 4, wherein theresource file is set to expire upon reaching an end of a sale related tothe resource.
 7. The processing server computer of claim 4, wherein theinstructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the oneor more processors to perform steps comprising: embedding the resourcefile in the streaming data provided to the appliance.
 8. The processingserver computer of claim 1, wherein the payment token is configured tobe used solely by the appliance.
 9. The processing server computer ofclaim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to perform stepscomprising: provisioning one or more policies on the appliance, whereinthe transaction is processed upon determining that the transactioncomplies with the one or more policies.
 10. The processing servercomputer of claim 1, wherein the instructions for processing thetransaction further comprise instructions that, when executed by the oneor more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform:identifying the original payment account identifier based on the paymenttoken; and processing the transaction using the original payment accountidentifier.
 11. A method comprising: provisioning, by a processingserver computer on a token module of an appliance having a primaryfunction that is unrelated to communicating with other electronicdevices, a payment token that is a substitute for an original paymentaccount identifier; receiving, by the processing server computer from atransaction module of the appliance, a transaction request messageassociated with a transaction for a resource provided by a resourceprovider, the transaction request message including the payment token,an indication of the appliance transmitting the transaction requestmessage, and a resource identifier identifying the resource; andprocessing, by the processing server computer, the transaction using thepayment token.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein processing thetransaction further comprises: initiating the transaction with theresource provider on behalf of the appliance.
 13. The method of claim11, further comprising: receiving, from a resource provider computerassociated with the resource provider, information related to theresource provided by the resource provider; normalizing the receivedinformation; storing the normalized information as a record in aresource index; and providing, to the resource provider computer, theresource identifier to identify the record related to the resource inthe resource index.
 14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:accessing, by the processing server computer, a streaming data providedto the appliance, wherein a portion of the streaming data is related tothe resource; identifying one or more files among the streaming data asbeing associated with metadata that includes the resource identifierassigned to the resource by the processing server computer; generating aresource file related to the resource identifier; embedding the resourcefile in the streaming data provided to the appliance; and transmittingthe resource file to a resource catalog located on the appliance,wherein the resource file is associated with the one or more files. 15.The method of claim 14, wherein the streaming data includes anadvertisement video associated with the resource.
 16. The method ofclaim 14, wherein the streaming data is a series of media files that arebuffered or executed by the appliance.
 17. The method of claim 11,wherein the payment token is configured to be used solely by theappliance.
 18. The method of claim 11, further comprising: provisioningone or more policies on the appliance, wherein the transaction isprocessed upon determining that the transaction complies with the one ormore policies.
 19. The method of claim 11, wherein processing thetransaction further comprises: identifying the original payment accountidentifier based on the payment token; and processing the transactionusing the original payment account identifier.
 20. The method of claim11, wherein the appliance is one of a smart television or a smartrefrigerator.